Who’s Taking Care of the Caregiver?
9/29/2005 Bethesda, MD Ann O'Mara Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 23, No 28 (October 1), 2005: pp. 6820-6821 Throughout the last decade, caring for a loved one with a cancer diagnosis has developed both in the sheer numbers of people providing the service and in the complexity of tasks required by cancer patients. Between 1997 and 2005, the number of Americans diagnosed with cancer has grown from 900,000 to 1.3 million, and the number of survivors has grown from 7.4 million to 9 million.1 With cancer care now routinely being delivered on an outpatient basis, informal caregivers' responsibilities have gone far beyond the tasks of transportation, shopping, household chores, and personal care. Administering oral and parenteral medications, performing wound care, and monitoring signs and symptoms are a few of the more demanding, yet routine tasks. The selection of an informal caregiver, like the diagnosis of cancer itself, is a random event, and there are no training programs to prepare individuals to be one. Thus, it comes as no surprise when we read of a new study, once again, highlighting the physical, emotional, and economic burdens that caregiving has placed on families and friends. What have these studies taught us throughout the years? Just as we have learned that cancer is not one disease, but a constellation of many, informal caregiving is not a simple occurrence, as the caring reflects the variability associated with the type and stage of disease, age of the patient, and the treatment modalities. However, these variables [...]